A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness
(London, Penguin, 2011)
I hastily drew the manuscript toward me, my skin prickling when it made contact with the leather.
Page 2.
My skin tingled as it always did when another witch looked at me.
Page 3.
My aunt Sarah had always warned me it wasn’t possible for one witch to lie to another, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying.
Page 3.
My mother never seemed to do laundry, but my clothes were always clean and neatly folded.
Page 6.
Fear was the strongest force on earth.
Page 6.
Lighting candles with a few whispered words or hiding pimples with a time-tested potion - these were a teenage witch’s habitual first steps.
Page 9.
The search for a rational order in nature, rather than a supernatural one, mirrored my own efforts to stay away from what was hidden.
Page 11.
The manuscript let out a soft sigh.
Page 13.
Ashmole 782 was a palimpsest - a manuscript within a manuscript. When parchment was scarce, scribes carefully washed the ink from old books and then wrote new text on the blank sheets. Over time the former writing often reappeared underneath as a textual ghost, discernible with the help of ultraviolet light, which could see under ink stains and bring faded text back to life.
Page 15.
This was not an ordinary palimpsest. The writing hadn’t been washed away - it had been hidden with some sort of spell.
Page 15.
Scholars do one of two things when they discover information that doesn’t fit what they already know. Either they sweep it aside so it doesn’t bring their cherished theories into question or they focus on it with laserlike intensity and try to get to the bottom of the mystery. … And when in doubt, scholars usually postpone a decision.
Page 16.
The air shimmered for a split second, just as the pages of the manuscript had shimmered on Sean’s desk, causing me to shiver involuntarily and raising the tiny hairs on my arms.
Something had just happened. Something magical.
Page 17.
When one witch studies another, the touch of their eyes tingles.
Page 20.
These days vampires gravitated toward particle accelerators, projects to decode the genome, and molecular biology. Once they had flocked to alchemy, anatomy, and electricity. |if it went bang, involved blood, or promised to unlock the secrets of the universe, there was sure to be a vampire around.
Page 21.
There were always things that went bump in the night in Oxford.
Page 26.
Convincing a witch to share a vague premonition was almost impossible.
Page 32.
The smell of the library always lifted my spirits - that peculiar combination of old stone, dust, woodworm, and paper made properly from rags.
Page 38.
Vampires had preternatural senses and abilities - but no supernatural ones, like mind reading or precognition. Those belonged to witches and , on rare occasions, could sometimes crop up in daemons, too.
Page 41.
One in ten beings was a creature.
Page 44.
Nothing was better for keeping panic at bay than physical activity.
Page 48.
“Everybody thinks the library is just a building, but it isn’t.”
Page 72.
“There are four kinds of creatures - humans, daemons, vampires, and witches.”
Page 72.
“Witches are born to witches. Vampires make other vampires. Yu have family stories and memories to comfort you when you’re lonely or confused. We have nothing but tales told to us by humans. It’s no wonder so many daemons are broken in spirit. Our only hope lies in brushing against other daemons one day and knowing we’re like them..”
Page 73.
“Humans like power - secrets, too.”
Page 74.
“A little book can hold a big secret - one that might change the world.”
Page 74.
When it’s foggy, rowing feels even more like flying.
Page 78.
The magic never really went away. It waited, quietly, for people to return to it when they found the science wanting.
Page 90.
“It’s no better or worse to have the talents of a witch than it is to have the talent to make music or to write poetry - it’s just different.”
Page 108.
“’Normal’ is a bedtime story - a fable - that humans tell themselves to feel better when faced with overwhelming evidence that most of what’s happening around them in not ‘normal’ at all.”
Page 108.
“Fear and denial are what humans do best.”
Page 110.
Humans had it all wrong when it came to vampires, I reflected. To make them frightening, humans imagined vampires as bloodthirsty. But it was Matthew’s remoteness, combined with his flashes of anger and abrupt mood swings, that scared me.
Page 111.
It was the hunt that defined vampires’ identity, not their feeding or what they fed upon.
Page 118.
Nowadays creatures no longer killed one another except in self-defense. Aggression was frowned on in their world.
Page 125.
A vampire had to another reatu4e more than anyone or anything else in order to mate, and cravings were rooted in desire.
Page 125.
Hamish knew that Matthew had a theory about the murders, one that was linked to his scientific research. “You still think the murders are a sign that vampires are dying out?”
Page 131.
“I want what I shouldn’t want, and I crave someone I can never have.”
Page 132.
“Ages ago. Yesterday. What does it matter?”
Page 133.
My aunt had taught me how to recognize enchanted and bewitched objects - and what to o with them. You were to avoid touching or moving them until you knew how their magic worked. Spells could be delicate, and many had protective mechanisms built into them.
Page 140.
When creatures refused to use proper names, it was a way of denying that those who were not like you were your equals.
Page 155.
The passage of time can interfere with witchcraft, and anniversaries are particularly volatile
Page 157.
“What is in the manuscript?” I said, temper flaring at last.
“The first spells ever constructed. Descriptions of the enchantments that bind the world together.” Knox’s face grew dreamy. “the secret of immortality. How witches made the first daemon. How vampires can be destroyed, once and for all.” His eyes pierced mine. “It’s the source of all our power, past and present. It cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of daemons or vampires - or humans.”
Pages 157-158.
Nobody can be what he’s not, no matter how hard he tries.
Page 167.
The strongest distinguishing characteristic of humans is their power of denial.
Page 176.
Humans can convince themselves up is down and black is white. It’s their special gift.
Page 176.
When humans see a creature in broad daylight, it makes them uneasy. We’re too much for them - too tall, too strong, too confident, too creative, too powerful, too different.
Page 177.
Becoming a vampire makes us nearly immortal, it makes most of us rich, and it gives us the chance to accrue unimaginable knowledge and learning.
Page 188.
A few seconds was all it took to change your life.
Page 190.
Once the world was divided more evenly between humans and creatures. Now humans are in the majority and creatures make up only ten percent of the world’s population.
Page 199.
Much of what qualified as magi was simply desire in action. Witchcraft was different - that took spells and rituals. But magic? A witch, a need, a hunger too strong to be denied - these could turn into deeds when they crossed a witch’s mind. … “When a witch concentrates, on something she wants, and then imagines how she might ge tit, she can make it happen.”
Page 221.
“Just because something seems impossible doesn’t make it untrue.”
Pahe 223.
Vampires were fast, but magic was faster.
Page 223.
“Alchemy is the story of creation, told chemically. Creatures are chemistry, mapped onto biology.”
Page 235.
A vampire’s life was measured not in hours or years but in secrets revealed and kept. Vampires guarded their personal relationships, the names they’d adopted, and the details of the many lives they’d led.
Page 255.
“Like witches, vampires are safer when they are part of a community who knows what they are but doesn’t ask too many questions.”
Page 285.
“Covenants aren’t enforceable. They’re voluntary.”
Page 337.
“I’ve loved you since I decided not to hit you with an oar on the City of Oxford dock.”
Page 351.
“It’s no good trying to tell a story you don’t understand.”
Page 364.
“Shock is your body’s way of resisting … You must try to relax.”
Page 365.
“It is a blessing as well as a burden to love so much that you can hurt so badly when love is gone.”
Page 372.
“Names are important.”
Page 386.
“Sometimes it is best for a mother to reveal things slowly to her children.”
Page 413.
Survival and sexuality were linked in ways I’d never appreciated until now.
Page 429.
“How could you not have been loved before, when I lobe you so much?”
Page 432.
Parents were supposed to trust their children.
Page 433.
Being in charge was getter than letting random events take place.
Page 441.
“Happiness is always louder than sadness.”
Page 595.
Making love should be about intimacy, not just physical need.”
Page 596.
“All babies are vampires.”
Page 596.
“Power always exacts a price.”
Page 644.
“A conventicle. That’s what they called a gathering of dissenters.”
Page 661.
We were in the midst of an acute outbreak of testosterone poisoning.
Page 663.
“When we go back in time, we don’t stop being who we are in the present or forget what happened to use here.”
Page 672.
Matthew was always different when no one else was around, but the contrast was especially marked now that our families had left.
Page 698.